Blueberry Melomel (heavy on the blueberry) recipe & requesting tips

[Kin]

Well, heyo.

LONG STORY: Rambling about my limited background experience and last few years. Skip ahead for the short story:

I haven't been around here for a while, but I've been lurking for the last few months. My last foray into homebrew was over two years ago and I ended up brewing about 5gals of mead, 5 gals of cider, and 5 gals of apfelwein. Also 5 gals of an IPA for my older father. [The IPA is gone, and a few gallons of each of the others.]

My interest fell off for a while, which was OK, because the high ABV stuff needed to age. I ended up liking some of the bottles from the 1 year mark, and so did my friends, but I did not like the yeasty flavor that was mostly in my head but definitively also in the brew. So now, a year later, I put together one of the 10" water filters for 1micron filtration and this seriously improved my confidence in the brews so that I brought some to a family barbeque. Everyone did enjoy, and long story finally at an end, I am back excited about this whole shizzam and want to start some new brews. It would be a shame to run out .

SHORTER STORY / getting to the topic.
This afternoon I was putting together what I imagine might be a good melomel. A number of the melomel recipes I saw suggested a lower fruit content, which was a bit of a bummer, meanwhile going for a pure-blueberry fruit wine didn't seem fun to me (I really like mead flavors.)

So I blended some recipes online and here's what I have. I'm not sure if it's a fruit wine or a melomel given the quantity of blueberry.

4 gallon recipe: Fused Recipe

• *still considering* Add 1/2 oz elderflower for 2 weeks
• 12 LBS frozen maine wild Blueberries** (thawed lightly mushed from outside packaging, and refrozen.
• 7.5Lbs Honey [eq 5gal recipe = 9.375lbs]
• 2Lbs Honey added when backsweetening.
• 2.5 tsp yeast nutrients [eq 5gal recipe = 3.125tsp]
• 1.5 tsp yeast energizer after day 8
• 0.9 cups of a "7 lemons pure lemon juice" frozen ingredient (100% lemon juice equivalent ~7lemons)
• 2.5 tsp Pectic enzyme (1.5 on day 1 of fruit, 1 on day 4)
• 1 packets of Lavlin 71b yeast.

[to taste after primary]

• up to 1.8 cups grape concentrate

*I probably won't add the elderberry for financial reasons. Looks like it'll run me $40 to get 5 lbs of elderberry puree, and that's a substantial cost increase over the $2.9/lb of blueberries. But i hoped it would add a complexity to the blander but yummy flavor of blueberries.
**the 'wild' blueberries are from costco, not wildpicked.


Any advice? Maybe up on something or down on something? I have five days to alter things before my starsan gets in (along with some other equipment.)

 

[Kin]

I believe I should reduce by half or eliminate maybe the acid blend. I'm realizing that the acid suggestion came from a fruit-wine recipe, meanwhile the honey might give acidity of its own. {realizing this from more reading, not spontaneous divination.}

 

[Matrix4b]

I have done a Blueberry many times with variations. My best hands down was a blueberry lemon. Check some blueberry cake recpies or muffins, they will include lemon. For some reason Blueberry tastes more blueberry with lemon. Wine recipies like to add tannin, but that's not best for mead.

Here is my recommendation after about 6 different batches of blueberry and blueberry variations.

5 gal batch.
4 gal water
8-10 pounds of blueberries (I also use the frozen Costco, 2 bags)
1 table spoon of yeast energizer
1 table spoon of yeast nutrient
2 packets of yeast (I prefer Lavin D47, though I have had good success with Lavin 71b)
18 pounds of honey (6 pounds of this are backsweetening)
2 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6-8 pounds of lemons) (though you could go with 1 cup if you want)

I also use 2 teaspoons of pectin enzyme though not strictly necessary)

Put the fruit in secondary in a mesh bag for easy removal. Leave fruit in a month.
Oak with 1 oz of light toasted American oak chips or cubes (I do this at the end when it's clearing and leave it in for about 2 weeks, for cubes I would go a month and put these in a hops bag for easy removal.)

You don't need to get fancy with tannin's or acid blend (though that may make the lemon juice optional if you do use acid blend)

Less honey on the backsweetening would be ok if you want a dryer flavor. 12 pounds on the primary will go completely dry with d47. And you must use some stabalizers (such as Potasium Sorbate) to stop fermentation prior to adding the extra honey. Also, think a bit on your honey type. I like the earthy and honey-ness (ok, that's not a word) flavor of alfalfa honey, and it's cheaper that say blueberry honey or even orange blossom. Clover could do well too as does Buckwheat honey for and even more robust honey flavor with notes of brown sugar.

Trust me, this is purple heaven. Now if you are afraid that it may be too sweet, then put in a bit of a herb such as Thyme or basil. Oh and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in the secondary helps too. As far as how much herb, I would go light with 1/4 an ounce if freash. About 1 tablespoon at most if dried.

With mead, many times simpler is better.

Happy Mazing,

Matrix

 

[Kin]

Cool! Thanks for your feedback. I will go for lemon, especially if I don't find cheaper elderberry. It sounds like sound advise, and the secret ingredient to my blueberry muffin recipe is lemon zest...so hey that makes perfect sense!

I am contemplating using some frozen lemonade concentrate I have on hand, and accounting for the sugar content but I have no idea if it's just rubbish sugar juice or whether it has a cool lemon flavor. it's probably a bad idea so I'll check the price on lemons and probably get them. Do you sanitize the juice? Is a freeze cycle enough to sanitize it?

I will drop the tannin. Perhaps I have some on hand from the apfelwein, I just sort of assumed I'd want it.

About your recipe, it does seem a little light on the blueberries. Does the flavor come through? Would it be overwhelming if I went 40% more blueberries? That would still involve dropping my blueberry quantity a substantial amount.
Here is my recommendation after about 6 different batches of blueberry and blueberry variations.

I think I'll need to backsweeten a little at bottling. I'm a good bit lighter on the honey than your recipe.

Oak! I was thinking about that. Cool I appreciate the suggestion. I was shying away from it because it felt stupid to add oak just because "it seems cool" rather than having a good sense that it would benefit the flavor.

I'll be going with organic costco clover honey for now. Still can't quite afford other typically substantially more expensive honeys, except perhaps trader joe's honey (they have a non-clover type, I forget specifics.)

I forgot to add it my recipes, but for stabilization I do the normal cold-crash + stabilizers (erm the two ones, sorbate and metabisulphate i tihnk), then keg, then filter yeast [transfers keg-keg], then backsweeten.

Hmm, thyme and basil I associate as substantially different herbs. I am curious about why you would suggest adding them. I mean, if I am worried about it being too sweet, I can just add less sugar right?



Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it

 

[Matrix4b]

I am contemplating using some frozen lemonade concentrate I have on hand, and accounting for the sugar content but I have no idea if it's just rubbish sugar juice or whether it has a cool lemon flavor. it's probably a bad idea so I'll check the price on lemons and probably get them. Do you sanitize the juice? Is a freeze cycle enough to sanitize it?

About your recipe, it does seem a little light on the blueberries. Does the flavor come through? Would it be overwhelming if I went 40% more blueberries? That would still involve dropping my blueberry quantity a substantial amount.
Here is my recommendation after about 6 different batches of blueberry and blueberry variations.

I think I'll need to backsweeten a little at bottling. I'm a good bit lighter on the honey than your recipe.

Oak! I was thinking about that. Cool I appreciate the suggestion. I was shying away from it because it felt stupid to add oak just because "it seems cool" rather than having a good sense that it would benefit the flavor.

I forgot to add it my recipes, but for stabilization I do the normal cold-crash + stabilizers (erm the two ones, sorbate and metabisulphate i tihnk), then keg, then filter yeast [transfers keg-keg], then backsweeten.

Hmm, thyme and basil I associate as substantially different herbs. I am curious about why you would suggest adding them. I mean, if I am worried about it being too sweet, I can just add less sugar right?



Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it

No need to sanitize any fruit. Putting it in the secondary there is about 10% ABV so that's enough to kill any nasties that would affect the brewing.

8-10 pounds for a 5 gal batch is a little light but the flavor comes through, If you are going Costco, then 2-3 bags will be fine.

With the herb, it adds something different to the mix, a different type of flavor. Less sugar doesn't mean less sweet all the time, you need something sometimes to break it up. But I like it sweet myself.

For oaking, I would go 1 oz for a 5 gal batch, light toasted America oak chips are fine. I would leave it in for about 3 weeks. Not enough to really taste the oak but enough to make it smooth. You will be surprised.

If you use the concentrate then check for preservatives like potassium sorbate, it will affect your ferment.

Matrix

 

[Kin]

Sweet! So I'm going to give this stuff a shot. I've adjusted my recipe to reflect some changes and am starting the first few days just with water and then adding the frozen fruit after the yeast have set in. herbs, elderflower, and maybe oak will go in at week 2 for 2 weeks.

 

[ostensibly]

I have a batch of Blueberry mel about to get racked into secondary that used about 4lbs of fruit per gallon. I used RC-212 to get more of a vinous berry taste rather than over the top blueberry flavor, but plan on adding some fresh to secondary before bottling.

I've been told that pectic enzyme helps with flavor/color extraction, although I've never not used it on berries so I can't say if that's true or not. You could defrost the fruit for a day with the appropriate amount of enzyme before adding to the must.

 

[Kin]

OK!

Just an update. I started 3-4 days ago (my log is elsewhere atm), and was having quite some problem starting the yeast. I was worried I messed up and on day 2 added an extra packet of yeast starter.

I had ran out of room in the freezer so I had to put 8lbs (of total 12) of 'defrosted and lightly mushed from outside of the packaging' blueberries at day 2 or 3 instead of day 7.

There are no weird growths though and it smells like it should, just a very slow bubble. I suspect the room might have been ~66 fahrenheit, so I popped it into the warmer (75f?) furnace room and will leave it elsewhere for around 70 fahrenheit if the furnace room kicks things up. Hopefully I have not taken too long to get things started but the last few days have been busy.

When I whisk the stuff it bubbles and smells nice, so there is activity, just very slow.

 

[Matrix4b]

My first blueberry batch I put the fruit, pureed in the primary. It didn't want to start either. Mostly, I think that the environment was just too thick. So I started putting the fruit in the secondary. I get a better blueberry flavor out of it too. I suppose that is why I use 8 pounds of blueberry and it's fine.

I suggest that you put some blueberries in the secondary too.

Matrix

 

[Kin]

Hmmm, so the fermentation seems to smell right and progress....no bubbles...maybe my lid has a leak somewhere that I can't see.. First time for me its kinda weird.

Lesson: harder to measure/sample the liquid with 8lbs of blueberry on top. Will grab a sample soon, been busy with friends wedding and work.

 

[Jason_SC]

This looks like a great recipe! I have a few questions though..

How long do you leave it in primary and secondary (or gravity). When do you add the pectin enzyme?

I have done a Blueberry many times with variations. My best hands down was a blueberry lemon. Check some blueberry cake recpies or muffins, they will include lemon. For some reason Blueberry tastes more blueberry with lemon. Wine recipies like to add tannin, but that's not best for mead.

Here is my recommendation after about 6 different batches of blueberry and blueberry variations.

5 gal batch.
4 gal water
8-10 pounds of blueberries (I also use the frozen Costco, 2 bags)
1 table spoon of yeast energizer
1 table spoon of yeast nutrient
2 packets of yeast (I prefer Lavin D47, though I have had good success with Lavin 71b)
18 pounds of honey (6 pounds of this are backsweetening)
2 cups of fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6-8 pounds of lemons) (though you could go with 1 cup if you want)

I also use 2 teaspoons of pectin enzyme though not strictly necessary)

Put the fruit in secondary in a mesh bag for easy removal. Leave fruit in a month.
Oak with 1 oz of light toasted American oak chips or cubes (I do this at the end when it's clearing and leave it in for about 2 weeks, for cubes I would go a month and put these in a hops bag for easy removal.)

You don't need to get fancy with tannin's or acid blend (though that may make the lemon juice optional if you do use acid blend)

Less honey on the backsweetening would be ok if you want a dryer flavor. 12 pounds on the primary will go completely dry with d47. And you must use some stabalizers (such as Potasium Sorbate) to stop fermentation prior to adding the extra honey. Also, think a bit on your honey type. I like the earthy and honey-ness (ok, that's not a word) flavor of alfalfa honey, and it's cheaper that say blueberry honey or even orange blossom. Clover could do well too as does Buckwheat honey for and even more robust honey flavor with notes of brown sugar.

Trust me, this is purple heaven. Now if you are afraid that it may be too sweet, then put in a bit of a herb such as Thyme or basil. Oh and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in the secondary helps too. As far as how much herb, I would go light with 1/4 an ounce if freash. About 1 tablespoon at most if dried.

With mead, many times simpler is better.

Happy Mazing,

Matrix

 

[fun4stuff]

I’ve been making a sparkling melomel for years that i keg. My favorite is with 16 oz of cherry or blueberry concentrate to the keg. I can usually find the juice at a local grocery store but i have ordered on amazon too. The last time i did blueberry, i felt i needed more juice. Maybe I’ll do 24 oz next time.

Adding blueberry concentrate is more expensive, but results in a stronger blueberry flavor and is much less hassle... it suits the sweet style well. I can usually have this ready to drink in just over a weeks time, which is another advantage of adding the concentrate to the keg.

here is the recipe which I’ve posted before:

Ingredients:

-Cider house select kit: apple flavor (Brewer's Best Cider House Select Apple Cider Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LV42VEC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_dcjoEbN4D1GPW)

-4 lbs wildflower honey

-16 oz tart cherry concentrate juice (king orchards montmorency).


OG 1.050

FG 1.000



I like using the cider house kit because it comes with pectic acid, finings, cider yeast, and Apple flavoring; although I'm sure you could roll your own for cheaper. I do not use the sweetener pack that comes with it.


Directions:

1) Mix apple cider concentrate from kit, 2lbs honey, and pectic enzyme into large pot. Heat honey inmicrowave or hot water bath so it pours and dissolves easily. Heat pot on low until it all dissolves. Do not boil. Once dissolved, pour to fermenter. Pitch yeast once temp drops to 80 deg. Let ferment attemps 65-75 deg.


2) Once reaches FG after 1-2 weeks, I add to keg. Then to the keg I add stabilizer (sodiummetabifsulfite and potassium sorbate), finings, 2 lbs honey (heated), and cherry concentrate. Usually, I dissolve the heated honey into about a gallon of the mead separately in another pot (that I heat on low to help dissolve), then add back to keg. You can add to a secondary if you want.... Would add mead and finings then give it a chance to clear, then keg with the rest. I don't think this is needed though.


3) carb at keg at 25-30 psi. Serve at 38 deg F.


----


I have varied it up over the years with differentflavored cider kits and different fruit juice concentrates. They're all good- blueberry is another favorite.